As a conventional technique of this kind, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2002-158276 and 2000-104040 disclose the following technique. First, an adhesive sheet is bonded to the rear face of a semiconductor wafer by way of a die-bonding resin layer, and the semiconductor wafer is cut with a blade while in a state where the semiconductor wafer is held on the adhesive sheet, so as to yield semiconductor chips. Subsequently, when picking up the semiconductor chips on the adhesive sheet, the die-bonding resin is peeled off together with the individual semiconductor chips. This can bond the semiconductor chips onto a lead frame while omitting the step of applying an adhesive to the rear faces of semiconductor chips, and so forth.
When cutting the semiconductor wafer held on the adhesive sheet with the blade in the above-mentioned technique, however, the die-bonding resin layer existing between the semiconductor wafer and adhesive sheet is needed to be cut surely without cutting the adhesive sheet. Therefore, particular care must be taken when cutting a semiconductor wafer with a blade in such a case.